This is step by step instructions on how to chip an OBD1 Honda ecu. Also included is a step by step on vtec conversion.

Thought I would make that point right off the bat so nobody gets confused what this is about. This is intended to be a simple guide to follow and show you how to chip your ecu for those of you who aren't afraid of circuit boards and know how to use a soldering iron.

What you'll need:
0BD1 Honda ECU (not all can be chipped, or at least chipped according to these instructions)
Chip Kit
Soldering Iron
Desoldering Iron, desolder braid, vacuum, ect. Desolder according to your preference)

Step 1
You'll begin by removing both the front and rear covers of the ecu, there are 5 bolts on both the front and back.

Once removed you'll have all the access to the board you need, nothing else will need to be removed.

I will refer to this side as the front

I will refer to this side as the back

Step 2
Looking at the front of the ecu with the plugs (part where your wire harness plugs in) facing to the left you will find the area in which the chip kit will be installed in the lower right corner of the ecu.

These will be the areas of concern, when you look closely you will notice that the board has this area outlined with a dashed line. I have highlighted all the points we will be working on.

Now flipping your ecu over to the back, you will need to locate these same points. On the back they are not labeled nor outlined. An easy way to identify them is to first learn the pin layout. The 28 pin socket and 20 pin socket points are the most easily noticeable points to find. If you flip the ecu over with the plugs still facing the left you will notice the points in the top right hand corner. I have outlined the area to help you find it.

Step 3
Now I'm sure at this point, some of you are wondering how to install a chip kit with the points already having solder in them. If you're wondering this, you're not ready to chip an ecu yet. Get some practice on learning how to desolder, I'm not going to teach you how to do it, you'll need to look that up for yourself. The reason why I say this is because it's very easy to burn the board if you don't know what you're doing and you could ruin your ecu if you don't know what you're doing at this point. Now for those of you who can desolder this is your time to shine. FROM THE BACK OF THE ECU desolder the following highlighted points. C51, C52, R54, J1, IC4, IC3, CN2
Front view

Back view

Step 4
The worst part is over, and you're now half way to being finished. It's all downhill from here so you can rest easy. With all the points now desoldered it's time to take a look at that chip kit. Now I buy mine from http://www.moates.net/ reason why is because they sell the most complete kit, along with provide a blank chip that you can have tuned for your car. The other reason as to why I buy their kit, is it's only 16$ and they throw in a ZIF socket with the kit, where others charge and additional amount for the zif socket and has to be bought separate. It is all personal preference on where you buy your chip kit from, now for those of you looking to have a pre basemapped chip sent to you in the mail so you're able to drive your car to the dyno I buy my basemaps from http://www.phearable.net/

Now lets take a look at what's all in a chip kit. If you choose to purchase yours from Moates it'll come in a small zip lock bag like this.

From there you'll go ahead and open it up to find everything you need. Starting from the top left the kit comes with the following items. Jumper Header, *Replacement Capacitor for C14, 74HC373 Logic Chip, 28pin Socket, 28pin Zif Socket, Blank SST Chip, Two 0.1uf Capacitors, 1k Resistor, 4pin Datalogging Header

*Note the blue replacement capacitor for C14. This is not required to be done in order to chip an ECU. This capacitor is simply included with the chip kit as it is a common problem with Honda ecu's. I personally do not replace the C14 capacitor and hold onto the one from the kit as a "just in case" backup for if the capacitor on my ecu were to go bad.

Step 5
Now that you have your ECU ready for the chip kit to be installed and you have your chip kit ready lets start soldering everything in! The following picture will show you where everything will go and be soldered in at. Remember to always solder from the backside of the ecu. Yes it's somewhat of a pain to get some of these items to stay in place when soldering them in, but I have faith in you that you can do it.

*Note, for the point J1 this is where the jumper will go. Now in the Moates kit, it provides you with a jumper header. You can use this if you please, however I prefer to to use the extra part off one of the legs from the resistor to make my jumper.

*For the 74HC chip for point IC4, there is a "half moon" indented shape on the chip. This needs to be facing to the left when installed. Also the 28pin socket there is a half moon shape on that as well, this will also need to face towards the left. Refer to the following pictures to see what exactly I am talking about.

Once complete your ecu should look like this.

*Note, the Zif socket will simply plug right into the 28pin socket that you will have soldered to the board, from there you open the door lever on the zif socket and the 28pin SST chip will plug into the zif. You will then close the door lever and this will lock the socket in place. When installing the chip always make sure you have the "half moon" shape on the socket facing the left.

Now for those of you who installed this in a Vtec Ecu (ie P28) you're good to go and can go have fun on the dyno. For those of you who installed this on a non vtec ECU (ie P06) if you don't need vtec you are also good to go, but for those of you who are in need of vtec you're not done just yet. The following steps will show you how to install a vtec conversion kit on your ecu.

VTEC CONVERSION

For installing a vtec conversion on an ECU you don't have to chip the ecu. If you simply are wanting to convert lets say a p06 to vtec you can install a vtec conversion.

Now if you're continuing from above the front and back covers of your ecu should already be removed, for those of you starting at this point remove the 5 screws from each side that hold your covers on. Now since I don't want to post the same step over for this, you can refer to step 1 of chipping to what I will refer to as front and back of the ecu and which way I will have the ecu facing when looking at it. PLUGS TO THE LEFT!

Step 1
With the covers removed take a look at the front of the ecu. The vtec point's aren't as easy to spot out as the chipping points are. They aren't outlined so it'll take a little bit of looking around to make sure you get this figured out. You will be looking at the following areas.

Now you'll notice that I have circled the top of the ECU with an arrow pointing to this location. This is a VERY IMPORTANT THING so please PAY ATTENTION. This area on your ecu is going to tell you which board it is that you have. The ECU that I am using as my example for the tutorial is a P06 and more specifically the board is an "11F0". Now I'm sure you're wondering what this has to do with anything. The reason behind why this is so important is this is going to determine what Vtec conversion kit you need to purchase. There are 3 different boards and 3 different vtec conversion kits 11F0, 1720, and 1980. You will need to purchase the kit specific for your board.

Step 2
Now if you actually read step 1 and paid attention you'll know there are 3 different kits. This tutorial I am doing an 11F0, this is the most commonly used board and the only one I've ever had to deal with. If your board isn't an 11F0 and you're doing a vtec conversion on your ecu don't get discouraged because I'm not going over your board. You can still read this tutorial on how to do an 11F0, everything is going to be in the same areas on your ecu and it'll be the exact same concept as your ecu except there will be a few differences on what you will be soldering to your board. One other thing to help cheer you up if you're not doing this on an 11F0 if you purchase your kit from http://www.moates.net/ their kits come with a little card telling you what is in your kit and what points on your board they are to be installed.

Lets get back to the "how to" portion of this. Lets go ahead and take a look at the vtec conversion kit. The following items are included in the kit 1uF Capacitor, 0 Ohm Resistor, NTE2368 Transistor, 10K Ohm Resistor, SK5151 High Side Switch, 1N4002 Clamping Diode (these are not listed in the same order as the picture)

Step 3
I'm hoping I haven't scared you away at this point, don't let any of this make you nervous, it sounds harder then what it is to do. Just make sure to read carefully and pay close attention. It's time to desolder your board, again I don't think I can stress this enough I'm doing this on an 11F0 board so these point will only be for this board specifically.

The points you will need to find are the following C60, J10, Q101, R201, IC14, and D11

Looking at the front

Looking at the back

Here is an up close photo with the main area outlined.

Also make sure you don't forget about D11, this is the point in the top left corner

Finding these points on the backside take a little bit of time to do. Just study the way the points are laid out on the front then flip over the board and find them. Make sure you take your time doing this, you don't want to accidentally desolder the wrong points now.

Step 4
Once you have everything desoldered it's time to install everything and get it all soldered in. You're just about finished and ready to have vtec kick yo!

For the 11F0 board this is where everything will go.
*Unfortunately I don't have a good picture edited like the chip kit one for you at this time, but don't worry I will have one for you all in a day or two. For now I'll list everything out for you and show you what everything will look like once installed.

The 1uf Capacitor will go in C60, 0 ohm resistor will go in J10, NTE2368 Transistor will go in Q101, 10k ohm resistor will go in R201, SK5151 high side switch will go in IC14, and the 1N4002 clamping diode will go in D11. It does matter which way some of these items face when installed on the board. Look at the pictures provided and this should be self explanatory on which way everything faces. For D11 I know I don't have the greatest picture, so make sure you have the "silver" side of the the clamping diode on the left side.

Here is what your board should look like once everything is soldered in place.

If you need any help with figuring this out, please READ, RE READ, AND READ AGAIN if you have any sort of clue towards what you're doing or what is going on this should be more then enough of a tutorial on how to do everything. Plus with the pictures it should make this even easier to figure out.

DON'T PM ME QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS, IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR IF YOU FIND ANYTHING WRONG, MISSING, OR CONFUSING PLEASE POST IT HERE IN THE THREAD. DOING THIS WILL HELP OTHERS WITH ANYTHING THAT THEY MIGHT ALSO FIND CONFUSING. ALSO DON'T POST REQUEST TO HAVE ME CHIP YOUR ECU IN THE THREAD. YOU CAN PM ME ABOUT THAT.